Will Code.org Be the Key to a New Future?

We try not to be preachy here at Content Equals Money. And, if you read our blog regularly, you know we never push other products or services on our readers. So, when I take the time to draw attention to a particular website, I hope you believe me when I say that this thing really could turn our world upside down (in the best way possible)!

The website I’m referring to, of course, is Code.org, a site that is dedicated to the belief that: “Every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn to code.” So far, the website has more than 585k supporters, and feel-good snippets from Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson, and wildcards like Snoop Dogg and Enrique Iglesias.

The Premise Is Simple: We’re Losing Programmers

The life of a programmer is not glamorous. It’s not really “cool,” and it definitely doesn’t have quite the same ring as “astronaut” or “professional athlete.” But the problem with coding isn’t that it’s missing a cool factor; the problem is that coding isn’t being taken seriously by most school teachers and administrators.

There’s only so much money to go around, and most of that curriculum spending is going anywhere but coding, which is unfortunate since writing code is a skill that can help position you for one of the best jobs of 2013 (and potentially the next few decades).

4 Reasons Why Kids (or Anyone) Should Learn Coding Now!

Steve Jobs said that programming a computer teaches you how to think. As our business has grown over the last two-and-a-half years, we’ve had to learn a lot of coding ourselves. (We’re natural English writers – not Java writers.) We can tell you firsthand that learning code has stretched our minds. Our critical thinking skills are definitely ramped up after we’ve completed another round of coding!

There are expected to be1 million more coding jobs than students by 2020. That’s a $500 billion opportunity that students need to start preparing for today in order to capitalize. (Currently, there are only 400,000 computer science students.)

Computer science is the highest paid college degree. It’s not all about the money. But, it sure helps.

Coding will make you a more valuable professional no matter what field you pursue. My writers don’t have to know code to do their job. Some of them do know code; some don’t. However, the ones that do know at least the basics of code will have more success as freelancers. I’ve experienced this firsthand. When you know the programmers’ language (or anyone’s language, for that matter), you have some common ground to stand on for a discussion!

If you’re even the least bit interested in online business, computers, and our shared future, then I’d like to encourage you to sign up at Code.org. They’re looking for anyone and everyone that knows code, wants to learn, or could bring it to the classroom. So, jump right in!

Amie Marse is the founder of Content Equals Money. She lives in Lexington, KY with her two dogs: Billie and Lily. She has been writing content for her web based clients since 2005. She launched Content Equals Money in Oct of 2010, home of conversion focused content writing services. She loves to chat about small business development and how to make content equal money!